The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is the most popular ballooning event in the world. It attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to the city of Albuquerque each year. With such numbers come congestion, logistical conundrums, and stress. Let us try to clear some of that stress by outlining several ways you and your family can attend this often-bucket-listed event! Staying at the Balloon Fiesta Grounds There are several ways to
Sometimes we choose a spot to give us access to national parks, but other times it’s to give us access to an area to explore! Cibola National Forest stretches over a vast area of land from Magdalena, NM to Gallup, NM. We stayed in a spot just outside of Gallup. Staying in Cibola National Forest We really enjoyed (most) of our stay in the forest. The first spot we stayed
We’ve slowly become accustomed to parking for a night or two in the occasional casino, and always had great experiences. Northern Edge Navajo Casino isn’t an exception. While it may not have had hookups like some places we’ve been, it did have lots of space and was fairly quiet. One of the memorable parts of this location was the casino food court, where we were able to get some delicious
Coming out of the mountains in the fall of ‘24, we needed to stop in Farmington, New Mexico. Tad Cooper needed a checkup. One of the places we stayed, and a contender for the short list of “places we want to go back to,” would be the Bisti Badlands Wilderness Area. While managed by the Bureau of Land Management, the Bisti Badlands doesn’t have dispersed camping options. It’s accessed by
While traveling through the mountains of Utah and later Colorado, we noticed Tad Cooper kept getting hot; hotter than he should. So as we were coming out of the mountains, we decided to have him checked out at a Freightliner dealership. Luckily for us, Farmington, New Mexico had one, and we were able to bring him in. While staying in and around Farmington, we were able to take in a
While making our way south from our summer hangout in the mountains of Colorado, we needed to find a little stop between stops to break up otherwise long, mountainous drive days. We’re a big fan of Freecampsites.net, but the sites on this page are not always guaranteed as advertised. Miramonte Reservoir West Campground is claimed to be free online. As we approached the site, we saw signs saying otherwise. Staying
While looking for camping that was convenient to Mesa Verde National Park, we found a little strip of public land just off of Forest Service Road 316 outside of Mancos, Colorado. This section of the San Juan National Forest is an ideal launching point when exploring not only Mesa Verde National Park but also the nearby Canyon of the Ancients National Monument. The area was pretty popular, judging by the
As we started to leave the mountains of Colorado, we plotted a route that not only got us closer to some events we had planned but also put us in range of more national parks. The BLM lands outside of Montrose, Colorado not only put us in range of Mesa Verde National Park but also unlocked some other great experiences in and around the city. Actual BLM Camping Around Montrose
To date, one of our favorite summer hiding spots has to be Stillwater Pass National Forest outside of Grand Lake, Colorado, and within spitting distance of Rocky Mountain National Park. The area had daytime highs in the 70s and overnight lows in the 40s making this the perfect free spot to beat the summer heat. What to Expect at Stillwater Pass Stillwater Pass has a unique blend of scary and
While exploring Capitol Reef National Park, we struggled a bit to find a good spot to Boondock. We actually spent time at two different spots. The first spot, just off of South Northam Road, was just outside the park but had no cell service. Since we didn’t have a satellite dish for our internet, we needed to find a different location. Luckily, Gun Range Road fit the bill perfectly. Secluded